Paranormal Activity
Description
Paranormal Activity is a 2007 American supernatural horror film produced, written, directed, photographed and edited by Oren Peli. It centers on a young couple (Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat) who are haunted by a supernatural presence inside their home. They then set up a camera to document what is haunting them. The film uses found-footage conventions that were mirrored in the later films of the series.
Originally developed as an independent feature and given film festival screenings in 2007, the film was shot for $15,000. It was then acquired by Paramount Pictures and modified, particularly with a new ending that cost an additional $200,000. It was given a limited U.S. release on September 25, 2009, and then a nationwide release on October 16, 2009. The film earned nearly $108 million at the U.S. box office and a further $85 million internationally for a worldwide total of $194 million. Paramount/DreamWorks acquired the U.S. rights for $350,000. It is often cited as the most profitable film ever made, based on proportionate return on investment, although such figures are difficult to verify independently as this is likely to exclude marketing costs.
The film is the first entry in the Paranormal Activity film series. A parallel sequel, Paranormal Activity 2, was released in 2010.
Plot
Katie and Micah move to a new house in San Diego. Katie claims an evil presence has been haunting her since she was a child, so Micah sets up a camera in their bedroom to record any paranormal activity that occurs while they sleep. Psychic Dr. Fredrichs visits Katie and Micah, who suggests Katie is being haunted by a demon that feeds off of negative energy and is intent on tormenting her. She said something like this happened to her and her younger sister Kristi when they were kids. He advises not to communicate with the demon without a demonologist, but Micah continues to film and seek it out.
The camera captures many strange occurrences during the night; they start off as minor noises, flickering lights, and bedroom door movements, but over time escalate into loud thuds, violent door slamming, and demonic grunts and screeches. One night, Katie appears to be in a trance; she gets up, stands beside the bed staring at Micah for two hours, and goes outside, none of which she recalls the next day.
Micah brings home a Ouija board. When the couple leaves the house, the camera records an unseen force moving the board's pointer on its surface, which then spontaneously catches fire. Katie is increasingly aggravated by Micah's flippant behavior and pleads to contact the demonologist, but he refuses. The couple finds non-human footsteps on baby powder Micah sprinkled in the hallway; its path leads to a burnt photograph of a young Katie in the attic, thought to have been destroyed in a house fire. Outside intervention is unavailable, as the demonologist is out of the country and Dr. Fredrichs is afraid of making the demon angrier. The next night (20), Katie is pulled out of the bedroom by an unseen force. Micah discovers a bite mark on Katie's back the morning after, motivating him to get out of the house, but Katie abruptly insists on staying.
On night twenty-one, Katie gets out of bed again and stares at Micah for two hours before going downstairs. Katie screams profusely for Micah and he quickly rushes to help her. Afterward, Micah screams in pain with loud thuds. After a moment of silence, Micah's body is violently hurled at the camera which is knocked off the tripod, revealing Katie standing in the doorway with blood on her shirt. She crawls to Micah's body, then looks up at the camera with a grin. As she lunges toward the camera, her face takes on a demonic snarl, and the scene cuts to black. The epilogue text states Micah's body is discovered by the police, and Katie is missing.
Alternate endings
Once Paramount acquired the film, the original ending was shown at only one public viewing before being scrapped; two new endings were developed, one theatrically released above and the other available as an alternate ending on home releases.
Original ending
Katie returns to the bedroom alone, covered in blood and holding a large kitchen knife. She sits on the floor against the bed and rocks back and forth. The next day, Katie's friend Amber leaves a concerned message at 2 pm, visits the house at 9 pm, discovers Micah's body downstairs, and runs away in panic. Thirty minutes later, two policemen enter the house and reach the bedroom where they find the possessed Katie with the knife. Seeing them, Katie suddenly returns to her normal state and asks about Micah. After the attic door slams by itself, one of the officers panics and shoots and kills her. The camera fades to black as the police officers continue searching the house for the source of the sound. An epilogue text appears dedicating the film to the memory of Micah and Katie.
This ending was only shown publicly at the 2007 Screamfest Film Festival and was never released officially by Paramount or Blumhouse since its acquisition. The original version of the movie (dubbed the "Festival Cut") was later leaked on various forums, which included this ending.
New alternate ending
After killing Micah off-screen, Katie comes back upstairs alone like in the original ending. She closes and locks the bedroom door, approaches the camera and promptly slits her own throat, before collapsing dead. The scene then fades to black.
Cast
Katie Featherston as Katie
Micah Sloat as Micah
Mark Fredrichs as Dr. Fredrichs
Amber Armstrong as Amber
Ashley Palmer as Diane
Liz Alexander as Micah’s mother
Gallery
Paranormal Activity Review - Movie Feuds
Of the thousands of independent movies released each year, it's rare to see one with such momentum as the Paranormal Activity franchise has. With only a $15,000 budget, the 2007 supernatural horror film took the nation by surprise after first premiering at the Screamfest Film Festival. It received critical acclaim for it's simplistic story and Roger Ebert wrote, "It illustrates one of my favorite points, that silence and waiting can be more entertaining than frantic fast-cutting and berserk f/x. For extended periods here, nothing at all is happening, and believe me, you won't be bored."
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Trailer
"Paranormal Activity" - Official Trailer [HQ HD]
Ok, this is the hottest new 'Blair Witch Project' -esque movie. We are alone at home and weird freaky things are happening. Do you believe?
Coming to theaters on September 25, 2009.
Starring: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Mark Fredrichs, Amber Armstrong, Ashley Palmer
After a young, middle class couple moves into what seems like a typical suburban starter tract house, they become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be somehow demonic but is certainly most active in the middle of the night. Especially when they sleep. Or try to.
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